The Pittsburgh Steelers always take four quarterbacks to training camp. Most years, the team keeps three on the 53-man roster. Even more recently, the team has held onto only two. But with four viable options, Omar Khan is keeping the door open to not have an odd-man-out come late August’s decisions.
Speaking with Pat Kirwan and Jacob Hester on the Movin’ the Chains Sirius Show Friday, Khan thinks a four-quarterback roster – Aaron Rodgers, Will Howard, Drew Allar and Mason Rudolph – is possible.
“At the end of the day, you try to keep your best players on the team,” Khan said when asked if he’d consider keeping all four on the roster. “Sometimes teams go short at one position ’cause they gotta go heavy at another ’cause there’s good players.
“I think we have to view that quarterback room the same way. You got good players, it’s hard to move on from.”
Keeping four would be a rare move. In 2023, the New Orleans Saints approximated as much with three true quarterbacks, Derek Carr, Jameis Winston and rookie Jake Haener, along with Taysom Hill. Hill is a versatile player often aligning at tight end, making the situation a little different, but Hill threw 11 passes and one touchdown on the season.
In Pittsburgh, many expect Rudolph to draw the short straw. Doing so would leave the Steelers with little experience behind Rodgers. It’s something Pittsburgh and Mike McCarthy have done before, but it would be an uncomfortable situation for a Steelers team trying to win now. Last year, Aaron Rodgers missed one game due to a wrist injury, and when Pittsburgh traded away Josh Dobbs in 2019, the team was forced to rely on youngsters Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges after Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury.
“We like the group of guys that we have,” Khan said of the quarterback room.
There’s more than four months for Pittsburgh to make a decision. Often, the choices get made for the team. Last year, Will Howard was gliding towards a roster spot before breaking a bone in his hand during training camp. He began the year on injured reserve and allowed the Steelers to keep Skylar Thompson. As of this writing, Aaron Rodgers hasn’t even signed his contract.
Who knows what things will look like come August’s cutdowns. Khan, however, isn’t taking the idea of four quarterbacks off the table, if it’s the best thing for the short- and long-term health of the franchise.
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